Baseball News

Baseball splits day two to win series over Oglethorpe

Following a pair of wins the day before, the Centre College baseball team split a double-header with conference rival Oglethorpe University, winning the first game 6-0, then falling 15-9 in game two Sunday, April 6 at Gary Wright Field in Danville, Ky.

With the split, the Colonels now stand at 14-11 on the season, 5-7 in SCAC play. The Stormy Petrels are now 8-23, also 5-7 in conference games. By winning the series, Centre has the tie-breaker over Oglethorpe and is therefore in third place in the Eastern division of the conference.

Game one featured an excellent pitching performance by Centre junior Jake Jones (Griffin, Ga.) and some timely hitting to give the Colonels the 6-0 victory.

Centre scored first, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning on the Stormy Petrels. A pair of errors, a hit batsman, and a wild pitch allowed the Colonels to put their first run on the board, then junior Jeffrey Williams (Knoxville, Tenn.) singled to drive in a run to give Centre the 2-0 lead.

Centre added runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth to get out to a big lead. In the fourth, after a double by senior Kevin McGee (Louisville, Ky.) Williams had another run scoring single to make the score 3-0. The Colonels added one in the fifth and would also score two more in the sixth inning. In the sixth inning sophomore Steven Kull (Frankfort, Ky.) doubled and Williams singled to put two runners on for freshman Steven Proctor (Springfield Ga.). Proctor singled to drive in both runners and put Centre up 6-0.

The six runs would be more than enough for Jones, who went the distance for the Colonels, throwing his first career complete game shut out, the second shut out of the year for Centre. Jones was too much for the Oglethorpe hitters as he went seven innings allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out five. The complete game makes three consecutive complete game starts for Jones, and the win improves his season record to 3-2.

Williams led the Colonels with three hits and also scored a run and drove in two. Proctor added two hits, a run, and batted in two of his own.

John Hale suffered the loss for the Story Petrels after going 4.1 innings allowing four runs, one earned, on five hits while walking two and striking out only one.

In the final game of the series, the Oglethorpe offense broke out early on after the scoreless game earlier in the day as the Stormy Petrels would defeat the Colonels in an offensive struggle 16-9.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top half of the first inning the Colonels responded with three runs of their own in the first inning. Jeffrey Williams led off the inning with a single and was driven in by a single by senior Ben Jeffers (New Albany, Ohio). Following a walk to freshman Cory Crowdis (Louisville, Ky.), junior Brandon Rosen (Ashland, Ky.) drove in two runs with a double to put Centre ahead 3-1.

Centre was unable to hold the lead as Oglethorpe put up seven runs in the second inning on Centre starter Andy Hagerman (Lexington, Ky.). The Stormy Petrels hammered out five hits in the inning and took advantage of two hit batsmen and a walk to put up the big inning and go ahead 8-3.

The Colonels offense was not done, as Centre put up nine runs for the game, but they were unable to regain a lead after the big second inning for Oglethorpe.

Andy Hagerman suffered the loss for the Colonels, falling to 1-4 on the season. Hagerman pitched one inning allowing eight runs, seven earned, on five hits while walking two and striking out one. He was relieved by senior Jarrod Williams (Carrollton, Ky.) who pitched four innings and allowed three runs. Sophomore Aaron Herbert (Louisville, Ky.) pitched one scoreless inning of relief, and Jeffrey Williams pitched the final three innings for the Colonels in the loss. Jeffrey Williams allowed four runs, three earned, on two hits and surrendered three walks.

Centre did pound out nine runs on 15 hits at the plate in the offensive battle. Jeffers led the way going a perfect 4-4 with two doubles, three runs scored, and three batted in. Rosen added three hits of his own including a pair of doubles as well. Freshman John Clark (Lexington, Ky.) and Jeffrey Williams also had two hits apiece for the Colonels.

Starting pitcher Sam Briend improved to 5-2 Oglethorpe, going 7.1 innings and striking out 11 in the victory. Briend struggled at times, allowing nine runs on 14 hits while throwing eight wild pitches, but he did enough to record the win.

Oglethorpe spread the hitting around as every starter in the lineup recorded at least one hit. Chris Lucas and Andy Farrey led the way with two hits apiece for the Stormy Petrels.

Centre is scheduled to return to action Tuesday, April 8 as they travel to Mount St. Josephs in Ohio. First pitch is set for 7 pm.